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Deeplinks Blog

Deeplinks Blog

The New York Times runs an editorial on the MGM v. Grokster decision that gets to the heart of why EFF took the case on behalf of Grokster co-defendant StreamCast Networks: It is impossible to strike down software like Grokster for its use in illegal file-sharing without also...

Bruce Schneier has a new op-ed questioning the rationale behind checking all air travelers against the government's "no-fly" list, the central feature of the new CAPPS II, "Secure Flight":
Imagine a list of suspected terrorists so dangerous that we can't ever let them fly, yet so innocent that...

The LA Times has an article [reg. req.] carrying news that the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has officially confirmed what we've long known: the controversial CAPPS II passenger profiling system didn't die. It simply spent its summer vacation at the clinic and spa, getting a...

Deep in the darkest heart of your servers, there live files known as logs. They contain all manner of intensely revealing information about people who use your systems. Web server logs might show which URLs somebody has visited, for how long, and what they wrote on an anonymous message board...

EFF has just announced that the JibJab suit has been settled. The resolution was a complete victory for JibJab, which will be entitled to continue distributing the "This Land" animation without further interference from Ludlow.
Two things made this outcome possible. First, JibJab's fantastic animation is a...

Judge Posner, over at the Lessig blog, describes a very worrisome problem concerning fair use. It has to do with a dichotomy long noted by legal thinkers between the law on the books and the law in action. They often diverge. And fair use is an...

EFF Believes "This Land Is Your Land" Belongs to You and Me San Francisco - Music publisher Ludlow Music, Inc., has officially backed down on its threats against web animation studio JibJab Media Inc. over the widely circulated "This Land" animated parody lampooning President Bush and Senator Kerry. JibJab had...

JetBlue ignited a huge privacy scandal when the news broke that the airline secretly provided more than 5 million passenger records to Torch Concepts, a military contractor. Yet the Army Inspector General Agency concluded [PDF] that JetBlue did not violate the Privacy Act. The reason: Torch never...

The New York Times today looks (reg. req.) at the many costs that will be imposed on consumers and businesses by the FCC's plan to apply the Communications Assistance to Law Enforcement Act (CALEA) to the Internet and require Voice-over-IP (VoIP) providers to build wiretap-readiness into their...

In an ongoing discussion on the Pho list, Cherry Lane CEO Jim Griffin hits the nail on the head explaining why yesterday's decision (PDF) in MGM v. Grokster is a boon for rightsholders: Here's why you should applaud today's decision: It brings us closer to monetizing...

EFF Protests Anti-Privacy Ruling in Appeal to the Ninth Circuit California - US citizens may no longer have the right to travel without being searched. So says the District Court for the Northern District of California, which recently dismissed a case that questioned whether it is constitutional for airport security...

The Ninth Circuit's ruling in MGM v. Grokster today clarified four points of incredible importance to innovators of all stripes, including peer-to-peer developers: The Court made clear that, for purposes of the "Betamax defense" announced by the Supreme Court in 1984, the important question is whether a technology...

Ninth Circuit Declares Grokster, Morpheus Not Liable for Infringement California - Today the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals made a crucial decision (PDF) in support of technology innovators by declaring that distributors of the peer-to-peer software Grokster and Morpheus cannot be held liable for the infringing activities of their...

Breaking news: the Ninth Circuit today affirmed the district court's ruling last year in favor of StreamCast and Grokster in the MGM v. Grokster case. EFF represents StreamCast (makers of the Morpheus software) in the case.
More when we've had a chance to read it.